【Abstract】Extensive reading demands readers to read in quantity for general， overall meaning， and for information. Learners are supposed to know how to choose appropriate reading tactics in accordance with different reading purposes. This paper mainly proposes some effective strategies to develop learners’ reading skills and competency.
　　【Key words】extensive reading； reading strategies
　　I. Introduction
　　A major goal for Extensive reading instruction is the development of strategic readers. Strategic readers understand the goals of a reading activity and have a wide range of well-practiced reading tactics.
　　The essence of extensive reading is to read as much as possible and reading speed is usually faster. We need to acquire some common reading tactics to improve their reading speed and understanding.The approaches to improve reading strategies will be analyzed from the following two aspects： forming reading skills， improving reading speed.
　　II. Forming Reading Skills
　　Extensive reading is different from other readings； it may concern a variety of skills， such as reading speed， overcoming new words within the limited time. The extensive reading teaching purposes are specialized in skimming， scanning， reading for detailed comprehension， etc.
　　Skimming is the most important and frequently used strategy in extensive reading， which refers to reading quickly through the text to get a general idea of what it is about. It doesn’t focus on the specific words or phrases， but on the meaning of the whole text， the general idea and the viewpoint of the writer. Readers can get the information and knowledge they need and the writer’s thoughts through skimming. When skimming， readers should read only for information and clues which provide an idea of the central theme or topic of a piece of writing. Sometimes they just look quickly through the abstract， materials. Readers should not stop to look up the new words they come across and just guess the meaning from the context.
　　By scanning we mean glancing rapidly through a text either to search for a specific piece of information （e.g. a name， a date）. This skill means that they do not have to read every word and line； on the contrary，， such an approach would stop them scanning successfully.
　　Whether readers scan or skim depends on what kind of text they are reading and what they want to get out of it. They may scan a computer manual to find the one piece of information they need to use their machine， and they may skim a newspaper article to get a general idea of what’s been happening.